The first day of testing is in the books, and by tradition that means it's time for two things: wild speculation about the competitive order of the teams, and...

The Planet F1 Top Three Championship of 2018

Now entering its 6th year as a competition on PF1, the Top Three Championship was first set up by PF1 member CarlPotter; unfortunately he stopped posting in 2014, and the competition became curated by Black_Flag_11, who did a great job taking us through two seasons of the championship. Sadly, life has gotten in the way for him as well, and as the first (and only) forumite to step forward, the curation of this noble competition fell to me for 2016 and beyond, until such time as I also inevitably burn out and turn to someone else for help. That hasn't happened yet, but I haven't climbed my mountain and reached my peak yet, so there's always a chance it could happen suddenly a few days after the end of any season.

Here's how our little championship works:

The Rules

The vast majority of the rules are still the same as was laid down originally in the inaugural season by CarlPotter; a few changes have been voted on by the members of the competition over time, and incorporated into the body of the rules. Here they are as they stand ahead of the 2018 season:

1st Place Correct: 5 Points2nd Place Correct: 3 Points3rd Place Correct: 1 Point

All Three Correct: 5 Bonus Points

There are no points given out for having the correct drivers in the wrong order, so if you choose Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, but it comes out Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, then I'm afraid you score nothing.

NOTE: Effective from the start of the 2016 season, the time limit to submit your picks has been extended to any time before the official beginning of FP3. Any changes or any new entries made after the official start of FP3 will not count; this rule is not supposed to be flexible, although I have been known to let someone off for only 1 minute late.

You can only pick a driver once for any of the three positions. So you can't have Vettel, Vettel, Vettel.

At the end of the season, if there is a draw, the winner will be decided by whoever has achieved a "Perfect Podium" the most number of times. A Perfect Podium is, of course, getting all three correct. If that is equal, then it will come down to most rounds won and if that is equal, then the winner will be decided by the number of 1st Places correct, then 2nd, then 3rd... If it's still tied after that, then it will be declared a draw and the Championship will be shared.

In addition to these original rules, in 2014 we introduced a (highly popular!) team championship to the competition. The mechanism for the team championship (you can call it the constructor's if you want) is exactly like in F1; each team has two 'drivers', and their points totals are added together to determine the team's points. Team orders, collusion and plotting are all very much allowed and encouraged, provided everything stays within the bounds of friendly competition and no rules are broken. It's Formula One, after all!

Further adding to the spice of the championship, in 2016 we added a knockout cup to the competition. The knockout cup is run passively alongside the main Top Three Championship - one needs do nothing additional to participate. The knockout cup is curated by Jenson's Understeer, contingent upon his continued participation in the competition, and is described thusly:

After the first six races, the standings would be used to create a knockout tournament. Everybody who had participated in at least one of the first six races would be seeded according to their overall ranking, with the highest seeds receiving a bye into the last 16. How many exactly would depend on how many entrants we had, of course. Using the 21 participants we had last year as an example, the top 11 would advance to the last 16 with those ranked from 12 through to 21 taking part in the qualification round. In the qualification round, the highest seed would face the lowest seed (so 12 vs 21, 13 vs 20, etc.) and that system would continue for the rest of the tournament, with the highest remaining seed always facing the lowest remaining seed, second highest facing the second lowest and so on.

Each round would take place over three races (as below). It would therefore be a best two-out-of-three system. For each individual race, the points scored would be compared and the highest scorer in each match-up would win that race, giving them a win towards the two they need to advance. In the event of neither person winning two of the three races, we would have the following tiebreakers (applied in this order): most points scored over the three races; most perfect predictions over those three races; most 1st places over those three races; highest seed.

Most people apparently don't actually understand how the knockout cup works, and that's fine - it's totally passive! Throughout the season there are updates letting everyone know what's happening there, and it adds some extra excitement for those who aren't doing very well in the normal competition - or, for those who are doing well, it adds the chance to claim both championships are rule the roost completely. This feat has only been achieved once so far.

And that concludes the rules!

The Top Three Championship, 2018 edition, is now open for entries.

You may enter as a single competitor or find a partner and form a team; being part of a team is not a requirement for entering the championship, although without a teammate you won't be able to contest both titles. It is entirely possible to contest, and potentially even win, the knockout cup without a teammate - in fact, the majority of historical champions have done exactly that, for whatever reason. Entries will be accepted up until the Grand Prix weekend of Melbourne (defined as the start of FP1); late entries are possible, but not preferred.

Okay, that does it for my traditional pile of chain-posting to begin the season! An announcement will be posted on the main forum, and I'll be attempting to send out PM reminders to past competitors - the PM system being what it is, that may or may not work, but I'll make an effort!

I got unceremoniously dumped by my chassis supplier last winter, (happy travels mcdo 😉). but I believe I secured another chassis supplier in Bentrovato so hopefully we'll be good to go with our new team.

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Oh I'm definitely in! Jalopy Racing are back and aiming to be the first team to successfully defend their title.

Black_Flag_11 wrote:

I'm in. Happy to team up with Fountoukos13 again or mix things up.

I've got all of you in!

Lotus49 wrote:

Reporting for duty.

I got unceremoniously dumped by my chassis supplier last winter, (happy travels mcdo 😉). but I believe I secured another chassis supplier in Bentrovato so hopefully we'll be good to go with our new team.

I have you down for the team name you and Bentrovato agreed on preliminarily last year, but since he hasn't reported in yet it's still you and TBC. Let me know if you guys settle on a different final name.

I got unceremoniously dumped by my chassis supplier last winter, (happy travels mcdo 😉). but I believe I secured another chassis supplier in Bentrovato so hopefully we'll be good to go with our new team.

I have you down for the team name you and Bentrovato agreed on preliminarily last year, but since he hasn't reported in yet it's still you and TBC. Let me know if you guys settle on a different final name.

Sounds good.

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Rumors that the mod team has signed a secret contract to automatically receive the largest payout from the Top Three Championship irrespective of finishing position are absolutely untrue, and we would like to officially deny them at this time.

(Rumors that payouts from the Top Three Championship exist are equally untrue, unless you count a flashy gif and your name in gold)

Rumors that the mod team has signed a secret contract to automatically receive the largest payout from the Top Three Championship irrespective of finishing position are absolutely untrue, and we would like to officially deny them at this time.

(Rumors that payouts from the Top Three Championship exist are equally untrue, unless you count a flashy gif and your name in gold)

Or are they???

P-F1 Mod wrote:

So what do I tell my accountant about the £50k?

Mod Titanium is my teammate by the way. Team Management in Crisis because my imagination ran dry after fixing the swear filter back in 2013.

I randomly just remembered about this forum (and this game) and decided to log in and here it is... Wow.

I had some issues going on (long story short - my wife got pregnant, we had issues, lost the baby) and a lot of things got forgotten about - including this, until now.

Man... Great to see this is still going and that people are still enjoying it. Thanks to whoever took over when I stopped posting, and sorry for leaving you all in the lurch. And thanks for naming it after me - that's a really nice touch.

Good luck to everyone taking part this season - I'll try to keep an eye on things!

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

I randomly just remembered about this forum (and this game) and decided to log in and here it is... Wow.

I had some issues going on (long story short - my wife got pregnant, we had issues, lost the baby) and a lot of things got forgotten about - including this, until now.

Man... Great to see this is still going and that people are still enjoying it. Thanks to whoever took over when I stopped posting, and sorry for leaving you all in the lurch. And thanks for naming it after me - that's a really nice touch.

Good luck to everyone taking part this season - I'll try to keep an eye on things!

Wow, welcome back Carl!

I'm pretty sure our paths on the forum never crossed before, but this competition has been one of the highlights of my time on the forum and I'm glad to have been able to keep the game going. To answer your question, Black_Flag_11 is the one who took over the competition and established the current name, and I took over from him for the 2016 season when life duly called for some of his time as well. So far it hasn't happened to me, and I've been running it ever since, trying my best to keep it as a tight-knight and fun alternative to some of the bigger competitions around.

Lotus49 wrote:

Has Bentrovato checked in yet? He's been M.I.A recently.

Last login was back in early February according to his profile, so no. You might need to start lining up an alternate teammate...

And as a reminder to everyone currently in the competition, it's only two weeks until the first GP, so for all the people currently unaffiliated to a team, now's the time to get talking to other people and put one together! You can't enjoy the full breadth and uniqueness of the competition without a team.

And as a reminder to everyone currently in the competition, it's only two weeks until the first GP, so for all the people currently unaffiliated to a team, now's the time to get talking to other people and put one together! You can't enjoy the full breadth and uniqueness of the competition without a team.

Yeah the last time Fountoukos13 logged in was back in November 17 so I'd better formally declare my interest in forming a new team if anyone is interested?